Gov. Mark Dayton and a group of Minnesota’s higher education leaders, including University of Minnesota President Bob Bruininks, discussed the historic cuts facing colleges and universities across the state at a roundtable discussion Wednesday.
Higher education faces a $306 million cut under the Legislature’s omnibus higher education funding bills –– nearly double the reductions proposed in Dayton’s plan. The House and Senate bills will be rectified in conference committee beginning Thursday.
Over the next two years, the University would face a $161.3 million cut on the House side and a $176 million cut on the Senate’s. The Senate proposal funds the Minnesota Colleges and Universities system by about $50 million more than the University.
Both bills take from higher education systems to fund the state grant program and other measures Republicans say directly benefit students.
“We’re not asking for a free ride,” Bruininks told Dayton during the discussion at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul. When it comes to solving the state’s $5 billion budget deficit, “We know we have to be part of the solution,” Bruininks said.
Read the full story at the Minnesota Daily.
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